The Steel Guitar Forum

On a six string dobro which key is the San Antonio Rose played in? Pan Handle Rag? (most common)

Thanks!!

San Antonio Rose....."A".
Panhandle Rag........"E".
Those are the two most common keys those songs are played in....But on Dobro...well you can play any key of course....but don't know I've heard anyone particularly play those two songs on Dobro.
Ricky

Panhandle Rag on dobro - I believe Jerry Douglas recorded it in A, Stacy Phillips in E , Alison Brown in D & Shot Jackson in E. My gut feel is that, in bluegrass D is probably the most common key, but certainly not the only one. If you learned it in D, it would be a piece of cake to play it in E with a capo.
I've seen San Antonio Rose tabbed in both A & D. I'm not aware of any dobro recordings of it.

Gary Morse plays San Antonio Rose on his new Resophonic Rodeo CD...
http://b0b.com/products/garymorse.html

If I'm remembering correctly, then "San Antonio Rose" (like "Faded Love") came from a Mexican tune, played in D. Verses were added later, and to bring things into normal range are sung in A. That's the way I've heard it on records -- played in D, modulate to A for vocals, and back. Makes it a little harder in a jam but sounds real nice when it works.

In San Francisco I hear Panhandle Rag done most often in D.

jd